


Quid Pro Quo

by orphan_account



Category: The Derp Crew (Youtube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Angst, Demon Summoning, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 18:05:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10541724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sometimes it's easier to summon a demon than it is to mend a relationship, but that's not something a spellbook will tell you. Smarty and GaLm have to figure that out the hard way.





	

John had the idea first. 

Tom had lended him some ancient book on demon rituals for it—why Tom was in the possession of such a thing, John did not ask—but it was what they needed. Anthony had agreed to help, even if only to laugh at the whole thing.

John secretly wished that maybe a demon would come just to wipe that shit-eating grin off of his roommate's face.

But that was just a passing thought, really; John had about as much faith in the ritual as Anthony did: none. It was all a joke, a quick experience to make the weekend not seem as lonely as it really was. For living with someone, excitement sure seemed scarce—or maybe it was just a lack of anything. They were just so worn out, so hopelessly exhausted. Even their arguments seemed tired, like they had gotten so used to disagreeing that they didn't even bother to try to be right any more.

Anything to make that go away.

Just maybe not this.

Anthony had agreed to do the honor of drawing the circle, bickering with John—like always—about whether he was doing it right. They were too uninterested to say anything particularly rude to each other that night, their insults falling exhausted into the rut they had been in for far too long. If they were lucky, maybe the rut would wear away too, just like everything else had.

John sighed, breathing in the scent of cheap dollar store candles.

God, he hoped this worked. He knew it wouldn't, but he needed something to break them out of this lifeless routine. Steven told him that the secret was to try something new together, but it's not like he could bring in a sex toy like Steven did with Tom and everything would magically be perfect again. Sure, he and Anthony had fooled around a few times in the heat of things, but that was over now. It had been ever since their lives had gone stale.

Now was the time if it was ever.

Anthony had already placed the candles around the circle, waiting eagerly for John to start the incantation. John took a deep breath and prayed. 

At least his roommate had something to look forward to.

The Latin was old and heavy on his tongue, filling up his mouth with slick, black words that fell out languidly. Anthony watched on, half-interested in the proceedings. With each word, John's heart quickened its pace, hurriedly speeding along just to keep up with the strain of the ancient chant. He stuttered out the last few lines, gasping for air as soon as the final syllable left his mouth. Anthony reached over hesitantly, uncertain of whether he would just make the situation worse, if that was even possible—it's not like he could sour their relationship any more.

They waited in silence, watching for any sign of the supernatural. It was all quiet, but if you strained your ears to listen...

Anthony howled with laughter, wiping his eyes free of tears as he rocked back and forth.

"Fuck man, I told you it wasn't going to fucking work! Look at you; I can't believe you thought that was going to actually do something."

John clenched his fist in some vain attempt to control himself, but that had never worked—maybe it had back when there was something other than a tired argument between them, but it seemed less like the past and more like some other John and Anthony in some other universe. He had long since accepted that it didn't have to be like this, but that didn't change the fact that it was.

"Fuck you too, Anthony. I'm fucking sick of you and your shit."

Anthony threw his hands up in incredulity, ready to gesture wildly to accentuate every detail of his rebuttal.

"Oh yeah, blame me for your little let's-pretend-to-be-wizard shit not working, just great. That's all you ever do, anyway."

Another clenched fist, and yet John was even more angry. He had done this for them, for everything they used to be together. John wanted to just take it all as a joke, but that attitude was just a relic back from when they did little but smile and laugh and yell together—when they were something other than tired.

"You know Anthony? Fuck this. I'm tired of you always just defaulting to this fucking uncaring attitude of yours. You used to actually be fun."

"Fun? Ha, that's funny; like you've ever had fun before. All you are is a—"

The chalk moved.

John and Anthony joined hands out of some long-forgotten instinct, looking intensely at the circle.

They waited fearfully for what was next.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, what a fun story to write! This is actually part of a demon AU that my friends and I have created, so in the future you might see more fics all happening in this universe. Until then, thank you for reading!


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